GOALS-JWST: Unveiling Dusty Compact Sources in the Merging Galaxy IIZw096

Understand

We have used the Mid-InfraRed Instrument (MIRI) on the James Webb Space Telescope (JWST) to obtain the first spatially resolved, mid-infrared (mid-IR) images of IIZw096, a merging luminous infrared galaxy (LIRG) at $z = 0.036$.

• Previous observations with the Spitzer Space Telescope suggested that the vast majority of the total IR luminosity (LIR) of the system originated from a small region outside of the two merging nuclei.
• New observations with JWST/MIRI now allow an accurate measurement of the location and luminosity density of the source that is responsible for the bulk of the IR emission.
• We estimate that 40-70% of the IR bolometric luminosity, or $3-5 \times 10^{11}\,{\rm{L_{\odot}}}$, arises from a source no larger than 175pc in radius, suggesting a luminosity density of at least $3-5 \times 10^{12} \, {\rm{L_{\odot} \, kpc^{-2}}}$.